Ooligan Press, the award-winnning publishing house run by graduate students in the Portland State University Book Publishing program, recently released two exciting new titles with strong Northwest connections. One is a book of Indigenous stories and one a debut essay collection on Northwest flora and fauna. You’ll find descriptions (written by students working for the press) below.
The lush, nature-rich area of the Willamette Valley was the inspiration for David G. Lewis’s book Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley. This work is a collection of Indigenous stories from the Kalapuya, Chinook, Molalla, and more, who inhabited this corner of the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years. Their stories went largely unrecorded, unacknowledged, or inadequately researched for decades. Lewis presents their stories alongside photographs and maps to further emphasize the beauty of these Native perspectives. Their connection to–and point of view about– the history of the Willamette Valley, and the nature within it, paint an orphic picture with depth and beauty.
Josephine Woolington’s first book, Where We Call Home, is a vibrant depiction of the beauty of nature in the Pacific Northwest. This collection of essays weaves together poetic prose and science to give more acknowledgment to the plants and animals that have struggled but survived in the midst of human presence and pollution. Woolington’s writing encourages each reader to become more aware of the realities of these various plants and animals. Only then can we come to a greater understanding of the beauty and perseverance of nature in the Northwest. The Northwest’s resilient flora and fauna are depicted in colorful ways that will encourage greater appreciation and understanding of what it means to live mindfully alongside plants and animals that were here long before we were.
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Ooligan Press is a student-run trade press rooted in the Pacific Northwest and dedicated to cultivating the next generation of publishing professionals. The press prioritizes literary equity and inclusion, striving to publish culturally relevant titles from local, marginalized voices in order to make literature accessible and redefine who has a place within its pages.
You can order these compelling books by clicking below.
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